Position in the value chain

Sustainable innovations

Innovations play a key role in our systematic alignment with sustainability and profitable growth. At the same time, our sustainable innovations help our customers achieve their goals in the areas of climate protection, biodiversity, and circularity.

Sustainability is a basis of our innovation portfolio, because our aim is to improve both our handprint and our footprint. Linking sustainability and innovation is reflected, among other things, in the fact that some members of the research, development & innovation (RD&I) council and the sustainability council are identical. We use strategic perspectives to allocate our research and development resources. That includes an intensive sustainability assessment using the methodology that has become established for the sustainability analysis of our business. The Idea to Profit (I2P) process is used to manage our R&D projects in several systematic steps—from the idea through development to profitable commercialization.

In 2024, we laid the foundations for three new innovation growth areas, with which we aim to generate additional sales of € 1.5 billion by 2032 (reference base 2023). These innovation growth areas relate to three major challenges of our time:

We are using biotechnology to develop biosurfactants and cosmetic and pharmaceutical solutions that improve people’s quality of life and, at the same time, protect our ecosystems.

To become genuinely climate-neutral, we need to avoid emissions, capture more CO₂, and build a hydrogen economy.

We pool our focal areas of research for a modern circular economy, help close material cycles, and pave the way for a circular future for our customers.

Product stewardship is our “license to operate.” Evonik monitors its products’ entire value chain from procurement of the raw materials to delivery to our industrial customers. This approach should not be confused with a complete life cycle assessment. Product stewardship also encompasses evaluating potential environmental and health risks caused by Evonik products and minimizing these wherever possible. Besides complying with all statutory requirements such as the European chemicals regulation REACH, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), and specific implementing acts, product stewardship at Evonik includes voluntary commitments that go beyond these regulations. For many years, we have been committed to the international Responsible Care® initiative and the Responsible Care Global Charter of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA). Evonik describes the implementation and control mechanisms for monitoring compliance in an internal group product stewardship standard. The cornerstones of our approach to product stewardship are set out in a product stewardship policy published on our website. This is about future-proofing our product portfolio by replacing hazardous substances in the supply chain. At the same time, we are working on alternatives to hazardous materials in our products as part of our efforts to improve the sustainability of our portfolio. In this connection, product stewardship aspects are likewise considered in acquisitions and divestments to ensure that Evonik’s internal criteria are applied in respect of a newly acquired product portfolio.

We examine aspects of product stewardship along the value chain as part of the sustainability analysis of our business. We record and evaluate different signals in different categories (see chart “Market signals”). Signal categories 1 and 2 specifically relate to critical substances and regulatory trends. Signal category 3 relates to sustainability ambitions along the value chain, including for product stewardship and chemical safety, even before the introduction of corresponding regulations. PARCs with a negative rating—sales classified as transitioner or challenged—account for only a small proportion of our portfolio. We aim to keep the proportion of sales generated with products classified as  challenged to below 5 percent long-term. To achieve this, we are continuously replacing hazardous substances in our products and working on alternative solutions.

Chemical safety has always been a priority for Evonik. We are aware that both substances of concern (SoCs) and substances of very high concern (SVHCs) are used in our processes and/or that these substances may arise during our production processes. Some of them are essential to facilitating specific product properties—a basic precondition for the success of the green transformation. For example, they are used in wind turbines, solar modules, and e-mobility. We conduct a thorough assessment of all substances that fall under the SVHC criteria—including those  substances we have classified ourselves—in order to reduce product toxicity and facilitate their substitution with substances of less concern.

SVHCs are a subset of SoCs. According to the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, SoCs include substances that have a chronic effect on human health or the environment as well as those that prevent recycling to produce safe, high-quality secondary raw materials. SoCs comprise all substances included in the REACH SVHC Candidate List, substances with certain hazard classes as specified in Annex VI of the CLP Regulation, and substances that hamper the recycling and reuse of materials in accordance with the ESPR 6. In line with the REACH and CLP Regulation  requirements, Evonik provides information about the presence of SoCs and SVHCs in its products in the supply chain by means of safety data sheets. As a supplier of chemical solutions, we sell our products to other industrial companies.

Evonik evaluates all substances placed on the market (> 1 metric ton p.a.). To ensure a sound basis for risk assessment, we also take into account small quantities of SoCs. Where necessary, restrictions are placed on certain usage patterns or, in extreme cases, a complete ban is issued on use in certain products. Evonik evaluates its substances using its own chemicals management system (CMS). This system lets us evaluate our substances at global level. The content of the CMS has been harmonized with the requirements of ICCA and REACH. We employ advanced technologies and implement various risk management actions to ensure safe production and use. As an extension of the CMS, our Chemicals Management System^PLUS is used for products containing more than 0.1 percent of a substance that meets SVHC criteria. Our aim is to reduce or replace these wherever possible.

Target 

• Include and evaluate substances/products from acquisitions in CMS/CMS^PLUS by the end of 2029

In the reporting period, we expanded our previous, voluntary target of including and evaluating by the end of 2026 those substances added to our portfolio through acquisitions made between 2021 and 2023. We additionally aim to include and evaluate by the end of 2029 those substances added to our portfolio through acquisitions between 2024 and 2026. Similarly, we aim to include and evaluate by the end of 2026 and 2029, respectively, those products added to our portfolio through acquisitions between 2021 and 2023 and between 2024 and 2026, respectively, in CMS^PLUS.

Other product stewardship actions

In light of global trade in chemicals and chemical products, it is important to encourage broad communication on their safe handling and use. We acknowledge this responsibility by providing an extensive worldwide information system. This includes  information portals, safety data sheets—also for products not classified as hazardous—in more than 35 languages, technical data sheets, and extensive information on our website. At the same time, we have set up 24/7 emergency hotlines, including an interpreting service as well as email mailboxes. Our specialist departments provide advice for our customers at all stages of the product life cycle, from the selection of raw materials through dealing with potential toxicological, ecotoxicological, and physical chemistry risks to the resulting exposure-based risks. We also provide advice on regulatory requirements relating to the projected applications, right up to transportation and disposal. Wherever necessary, we give customers training on how to handle our products. We registered no breaches of product labeling  regulations in 2025. Evonik uses an automated tool that draws on data from our central SAP system to issue poison center notifications.

We need toxicological and ecotoxicological data to assess the safety of our products. In keeping with our responsibility to protect animals, we check thoroughly in advance if there are possible alternatives to animal testing. As an active member of the EPAA, ECETOC, and Cefic-LRI, we engage in driving forward alternative methods—known as new approach methodologies (NAMs)—and scientific evaluation approaches on a cross-sector basis. If animal testing is unavoidable, Evonik applies its animal testing guidelines to ensure that the tests are performed solely by test institutes validated in accordance with the national and international legal provisions and that these tests meet animal protection standards.

PFAS – Challenge and Responsibility

Microplastics

Nanotechnology

Evonik regards circular economy as a fundamental transformation to achieve a climate-neutral, resource-efficient economy in which products and materials are used for as long as possible and raw materials are recycled after use. This means economic growth is decoupled from resource consumption. Better use of resources is a top priority for Evonik. Likewise, the circular economy is becoming increasingly important to Evonik in view of our planet’s limitations. Growing scarcity of raw materials may lead to inadequate resource availability in the supply chain. Activities such as the diversification of raw materials enable us to enhance the reliability of supply for production, helping reduce our reliance on finite fossil-based and other non-circular resources. Evonik is an integral part of various value chains and has expertise in the processes, technologies, opportunities, and risks of upstream and downstream players. Circular economy thus opens up new business opportunities and attractive growth potential for Evonik. 

Circular economy involves looking at the entire life cycle of products. We endorse all business activities, technologies, and innovations that help speed up ecologically and economically  viable actions to promote circular value chains. A policy on the circular economy and use of resources is published on our website.

Refining our products and technologies and changing our raw material platforms are fundamental to achieving a circular economy. Alongside our own aspirations, major drivers include the increasingly stringent regulatory requirements coupled with the voluntary commitments of our customers and other companies—like the manufacturers of end products—as they are defining ever more ambitious plans to reduce CO₂ as well as targets for the use of circular materials. Working with partners at every link in the value chain is key to Evonik’s successful role in the transformation to a circular economy. 

Through Evonik’s global circular economy program, we are expediting our business activities toward a circular economy. We review both the circularity of raw materials of all types and the value chains in all of Evonik’s markets.

Targets 

• Generate at least €1 billion in additional sales with circular products and technologies by 2030

• Reduce specific production waste volume by 10 percent relative to production volume between 2021 and 2030

Through the global circular economy program, Evonik—in cooperation with internal and external partners—intends to help make circularity possible. This is also reflected in our target of generating at least €1 billion in additional sales with circular  products and technologies by 2030. Circular products and  technologies contribute to resources being able to be used for as long and as efficiently as possible—through intelligent design, the use of recycled raw materials, longer useful lives, or better  recycling processes, for example.

Moreover, between 2021 and 2030, we aim to reduce the volume of specific production waste relative to production volume by 10 percent. We plan to achieve this by implementing a wide range of actions at our production sites. These actions were identified, for example, within the scope of the EAGER project. Our voluntary targets adopted by the executive board are aimed at the top level of the waste management hierarchy, waste prevention.

Global Circular Economy Program

Through the global circular economy program, Evonik—in cooperation with internal and external partners—intends to help make circularity possible. This is also reflected in our target of generating at least € 1 billion in additional sales with circular  products and technologies by 2030. Circular products and technologies contribute to resources being able to be used for as long and as efficiently as possible—through intelligent design, the use of recycled raw materials, longer useful lives, or better recycling processes, for example.

Our global circular economy program comprises short- to medium-term actions with a clear focus on business developments. Examples of these actions include:

• The use of circular raw materials
• The development of solutions for mechanical and chemical recycling technologies
• The identification of business opportunities and the development of circular business models
• The intensive examination and structuring of new value chains

Evonik breaks down its activities into the areas of raw materials procurement, waste and resource management in its own production, and solutions that make circularity possible.

Solutions to facilitate circularity

The specific characteristics of Evonik’s technologies contribute to reducing waste throughout their life cycle. Our innovative additives make it possible to use recycled plastics from closedand open-loop sources. A major focal area is the development of additives that enable a high proportion of recyclates to be used in automotive components. In this way, we are contributing to improved circularity in the automotive industry, are well prepared for upcoming European requirements like the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive, and enhance our competitiveness. Our additives likewise play a central role in the area of building protection, ensuring the stability and appearance of concrete structures that are exposed to weathering and environmental influences. Moreover, they improve the quality of recyclates by minimizing odors, simplifying processing, and optimizing mechanical properties. This opens the way for higher yields of secondary materials with significantly better quality recyclates.

Chemical recycling provides solutions for waste streams that cannot be efficiently recycled mechanically such as heavily contaminated, mixed, or colored plastics, and duroplasts. Evonik provides the additives, adsorbents, catalysts, and process  expertise needed to chemically recycle plastic residues that would otherwise be incinerated or disposed of in landfills. For mixed or contaminated plastics, in particular, these products make it possible to produce pyrolysis oils, which are a substitute for fossil naphtha and serve as the basic ingredients for polymer synthesis. Although the technology is currently still at the pilot stage, Evonik is expanding its range of products for pyrolysis oil production. These include adsorbents and catalysts for the separation of contaminants as well as additives that enable the processing at low temperatures. Our SiYPro™ additives make reprocessing in crackers safer and more robust. For heavily contaminated plastics, Evonik also offers solutions for the production of synthesis gas. Alkoxide catalysts and process technologies make it possible to effectively recycle PET packaging and colored PET plastics that cannot be mechanically recycled. Accordingly, Evonik has expanded its global alkoxides business with a new facility in Singapore. Furthermore, Evonik offers monomaterial solutions and bio-based products to further contribute to recycling and sustainability.

You can find further information on waste and resource management as well as on raw material procurement here.

Evonik has a significant influence on the environment and society through its procurement volume. By working closely with our suppliers, we aim to help prevent breaches of human rights and environmental violations in the supply chain. We strive to counter a lack of transparency and inadequate traceability in the supply chain. Our procurement organization also contributes to mitigating operational and reputational risks for Evonik, ensuring the long-term reliability of supply for the production of Evonik products, and securing competitive advantages for our operating businesses by avoiding negative impacts on our direct suppliers’ employees as well as employees in our deeper supply chains. The “Actions” section describes our activities to mitigate risks, ensure positive impacts on the people in our supply chains and on Evonik, and assess their effectiveness. 

Alongside economic requirements, our procurement strategy takes account of criteria such as health, quality, safety, social factors, and environmental protection. Evonik deploys significant resources in implementing its procurement strategy and particularly in identifying, mitigating, and eliminating social and environment-related risks and impacts in the supply chain. These resources include a procurement team dedicated to sustainability, risk, and compliance as well as the procurement and use of specialized software solutions for risk management and audits, such as EcoVadis. 

Global procurement is managed from Germany, with the support of regional units in Asia as well as North and South America. In 2025, we sourced raw materials and supplies, technical goods, services, energy, and other operating supplies with a total value of €9.8 billion from around 33,000 suppliers. Local sourcing accounted for about 78 percent of this amount. Raw materials and supplies accounted for 47 percent of the procurement volume. Spending on petrochemical feedstocks was around €3.2 billion.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Our procurement organization contributes to mitigating operational and reputational risks for Evonik, ensuring the long-term reliability of supply for the production of Evonik products and securing competitive advantages for our operating businesses by avoiding negative impacts on our direct suppliers’ employees as well as employees in our deeper supply chains.

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TFS-INITIATIVE

Harmonizing global standards in the supply chain creates transparency and makes it easier for both suppliers and customers to reliably assess and evaluate sustainability performance. The chemical industry set up the Together for Sustainability (TfS) initiative for this purpose in 2011. Evonik is one of the six founding members of this initiative. 

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RAW MATERIALS

Evonik purchases a broad spectrum of raw materials, ranging from high-volume raw materials that generally have good availability to low-volume specialties that are sourced from a limited number of suppliers. As a downstream producer of specialty chemicals with production facilities in all regions of the world, we procure raw materials both globally and regionally/locally.

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MASS BALANCE APPROACH    

In the area of resource efficiency, we aim to support the transformation to a circular economy with our products and solutions. At the same time, we are advocating for a technology-neutral legal framework that allows a variety of recycling technologies and, especially, the use of the mass balance approach as a method for measuring chemical recycling.

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TRANSPORTATION SAFETY

We aim to ensure the safe transportation of raw materials and products, working to minimize risk at all stages of the shipping process—from loading through transportation to unloading.

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Integrated technology platforms give us a competitive advantage

Our products are manufactured using highly developed technologies that we are constantly refining. Evonik has many integrated production complexes where key precursors are produced in adjacent production facilities. In this way, we offer our customers maximum reliability of supply. At the same time, these integrated world-scale technology platforms, combined with technologically demanding production processes, act as entry barriers.

Global production

Evonik has a presence in more than 100 countries, and 82 percent of sales are generated outside Germany. We have production facilities at 98 locations in 27 countries on six continents and are therefore close to our markets and our customers. Our largest production sites, for example, in Marl, Wesseling, and Rheinfelden (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), Mobile (Alabama, USA), Shanghai (China), and Singapore, have integrated technology platforms, most of which are used by several operating units.